VLADIMIR, March 4. /TASS/. Rescuers have found the Russian Interior Ministry’s helicopter that crashed in the Vladimir region. Its two passengers died, the region’s Governor Svetlana Orlova told TASS.

“The helicopter has been found. Two people died and two were injured,” she said.

A source in the regional Civil Defense and Emergency Situations Department told TASS that the helicopter had caught fire after a hard landing. “The helicopter fell and caught fire,” he said.

The identities of the Interior Ministry employees who were on board the helicopter are being established.

The accident occurred on Friday afternoon near Varvarino village in the Vladimir region. The AS350 helicopter of the Russian Interior Ministry’s special task squadron carrying four people made a hard landing in a forested area on the border of the Ivanovo and Vladimir regions while making a forest inspection flight.

Investigators are considering four versions of the crash – poor weather conditions, pilot error, bad fuel and technical malfunction. According to a source in the law enforcement agencies, all emergency services have reached the accident site.